A Pakistani court canceled the last of Imran Khan’s jail sentences, emboldening the former prime minister who has been in prison for almost a year and faces dozens of other court cases.

“The conviction is set aside and his release ordered if not wanted in any other case,” Salman Safdar, Khan’s lawyer, said in a text message on Saturday. It’s unclear if the opposition politician will be freed due to other legal challenges. A sessions court judge accepted Khan’s appeal challenging his and his wife Bushra Bibi’s convictions in an unlawful marriage case, according to Safdar. They were sentenced to seven years in jail in the case.

The petitioner, Bibi’s ex-husband, can still file an appeal against the ruling in a higher court.
The couple were sent to prison for violating an Islamic law that requires women who have divorced to complete a waiting period before they can remarry.

The decision is a major relief for Khan who had three other convictions suspended by the courts. The 71-year-old politician has been in jail since August.

Khan was the first Pakistani prime minister ousted from power through a parliamentary no-confidence vote more than two years ago after his relationship with the powerful military turned sour. He has said the legal cases are politically motivated and designed to prevent him from staging a comeback — an allegation Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the military leadership have denied.

An anti-terrorism court on Thursday turned down Khan’s request for a pre-arrest bail in a case linked to last year’s violence that broke out after his brief arrest on corruption charges.

In another legal win, Pakistan’s supreme court handed about two dozen reserve seats in the parliament to Khan’s supporters.

Khan-backed candidates won the most parliamentary seats in February after an election marred by violence and allegations of rigging. But they fell short of a majority and Khan’s rivals moved quickly to form the government in what political analysts said was in part due to support from the military. –BLOOMBERG